1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to textile smoothing implements, particularly cloth-stretcher frames such as those classed in US Class 38, Subclass 102+, and still more particularly those with a stand.
2. Related Art
Needlework support stands have been used for about a century or more. Indeed U.S. Class 38, subclass 102.1 and 102.2 contain numerous patents relating to needlecraft stands. Indeed, such devices date back to at least 1899, as evidenced by U.S. Pat. No. 699,263, filed May 10, 1899 and patented May 6, 1902.
For purposes of discussion here, U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,989 issued Jul. 2, 1991 to David L. Nevius appears representative of the state of the art of such stands, although the Nevius stand is too complex for commercial viability. The Nevius stand includes a worktable, light box, fabric holder and pattern holder each mounted by an individually adjustable arm on a single support leg with a large base plate. This gives tremendous adaptability of the unit, but makes the cost and number of parts quite high. Also, the supporting structures are wood, and thus susceptible to breakage under relatively modest stress, such as the unit being knocked over inadvertently or a child climbing on it.
Simpler needlework stands such as in U.S. Pat. No. Des. 244,755 issued Jun. 21, 1977 to Donald Bard, typically have low cost wooden parts but have the drawback of low strength. Even more complex stands such as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,906,648; 3,955,722; 4,590,695; and 5,357,699 have low strength wooden construction to reduce cost and enhance portability, and have a large number of parts. This leads to increased breakage and difficulty of repair and largely defeats the objective of low cost.
A sturdier and simpler needlework stand is therefor needed, and is provided by the present invention.